Agreement on Greece's accession to the ESA Convention signed

Today Mr Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General, and Mr Dimitris Sioufas, Minister for Development, signed the Agreement on Greece's accession to the ESA Convention, at the Agency’s Paris Headquarters.

Greece formally applied to join ESA in September 2003. Under the Accession Agreement, it will become a full member state by December 2005 at the latest, following a transition period.

“We warmly welcome Greece to the European Space Agency”, said Jean-Jacques Dordain. “We look forward to the new member state fruitfully extending its participation in various fields, including the new space programmes Europe is preparing for the future”.

Greece is already participating in telecommunication programmes, Global Monitoring for Environment and Security and technology activities under a Cooperation Agreement which came into force in November 2001.